Intelligentsia

More Energy Project Day #29 – 34

Today I feel great. Some of the most important things I have done is focusing on sleep and exercise; nothing beats the benefits of good sleep and proper exercise!

Originally I wanted to write a post every day of my project. But I’m not going to beat myself up about not doing it. Not writing is an indication of my low energy level and I don’t need my energy project to drain energy. I have focus on getting more energy every day and today I’m going to summarize the first month of my project.

All in all the first month has had a positive outcome; I feel much more energized now than one month ago. I have had ups and downs and more will come, but I’m getting better at handling the downs. I used to get depressed an very negative; I felt like the World was collapsing around me. But now I’m able to think clearly and I’m more happy.

What did I do?

1. Sleep

First of all I have major focus on sleep. I even involved my wife in the project and had her change her routines to help me get more sleep. I still focus on sleep. My goal is to get 7-8 hours of sleep every day. I’m not quite there yet. I used to get about 5 hours of sleep but now its more like 6-7 hours on average. No matter what anyone tells you: Make sure you get your sleep!

2. Exercise

Exercise has a major impact on my well-being. After exercising I’m happy and boosted with energy because of the increased production of endorphin. Exercise helps getting better sleep and is a great supplement to sleep.

I have managed to get exercise about 4 times a week. My goal is to exercise every day. Mondays I teach taekwondo. Fridays or Saturdays I go to the gym. Three times a week I go running.

How do I manage to get time for exercise? Well, first of all I talked to my wife for support. Then I took a look at my daily routines and to see where I could fit in exercise; could I change some of my routines? I prefer to exercise in the morning, so I take gym classes in the morning if it fits my wife’s and son’s schedule. It turned out to be easy to find time for running. Usually I leave home 45 minutes before office hours, but if I leave 15 minutes earlier I can run to work and replace transport with exercise – that is clever! This way I get at least 3 hours of exercise but It only takes out 45 minutes of my weekly schedule.

My next project is to find time to swim once a week.

3. Change socks: Tried it a couple of times. It feels good. Changing underwear also feels great.

4. Sing out loud: I do it know and then and it makes my son laugh too.

5. Eat eggs: I’ve implemented eating more eggs; especially in the morning.

6. Coffee in the morning: I only drink coffee in the morning and sometimes I grab a cup after a nap in the afternoon, but never later than 15.00!

7. Drink water: I drink more water, but only if I feel thirsty.

8. To-do lists: I have been working on my to-do lists to figure out a system that helps me instead of stressing me. I still have a list of to-dos but I’m not sure what to do about it.

9. Work with my body’s clock: I try to get up at the same time every day and go to bed at the same time. Bedtime about 22.00 and up about 5.30-6.00. I exercise early, if possible. I try not to have supper late.

10. Improve breakfast: oatmeal, apple, blueberry, eggs

11. Early supper: Preferable about 17.00 to 17.30

12. Involve my wife: It has been a great help to get my wife’s support. She even agreed to change some of her own routines to help me.

13. Buy new clothes: I used to give my clothing low priority because money was scarce. But I have given it higher priority and it boosts my energy because I look better wearing new clothes.

14. One task a day: As part of my to-do list project I try to pick a task each day I want to complete. I’m not sure how well it works.

15. Lavender scent: Lavender is said to give more energy. I have bought a bag of lavender and put it in between my socks and underwear. I’m not sure how it affects my energy level, but it smells nice, so I guess it would have some sort of positive influence.

16. Wake up same time every day.

17. More wholemeal in my bread: I use spelt and wheat in my bread, but I have replaced some of the bolted flour with wholemeal spelt. It tastes great and is much healthier.

18. Less sugar: I don’t buy food with sugar and eat less sweets when I’m out.

19. Play to relax: I take time to play backgammon with my wife, Wordfeud on my iPhone and shoot some aliens on my PS3. I also play with my son almost every day and we watch a bit of television together.

20. Splash some water on my face: When feeling tired I found that cold water in the face can wake me up for a while.

21. Dress up: Well, looking good makes me feel good

22. Take a walk: sometimes I walk instead of biking. Eg. this morning I walked to work for 20 minutes. It cleared my mind and the cold air helped me wake up.